India’s pursuit of becoming a $30 trillion economy by 2047 rests on inclusive growth. However, women contribute only 18% to GDP, with nearly 196 million employable women outside the workforce. The Global Gender Gap Report 2025 ranks India 131/148, behind BRICS and South Asian peers. Bridging this gap requires not just schemes but robust gender-disaggregated data to guide policy.
Key Strides in Gender Parity:
Education Gains:
- Female GER in elementary education: 94.3% vs. 89.2% boys.
- Women’s literacy improved from 9% at Independence to 77% (2021 Census projections).
Financial Inclusion:
- 56% of PMJDY accounts held by women.
- DBT transfers such as Ladli Behna Yojana of MP empower women with direct access to welfare funds.
Legal and Workplace Reforms:
- Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 for stronger action against sexual crimes.
- 26 weeks maternity leave is amongst the highest globally.
Political Empowerment:
- 73rd/74th Amendments enabled 40% women reservation in Panchayats.
- As per Women’s Reservation Act 2023, 33% seats in Parliament & State Assemblies.
Labour and Entrepreneurship:
- Women constitute 57% of MGNREGA workers.
- 68% loans under Stand Up India went to women.
Key Issues Hindering Parity:
- Political Underrepresentation: Only 13.8% MPs are women and only 5.6% hold ministerial positions.
- Low LFPR: At41.7%, it is among the lowest in G20. As per Oxfam, Women’s unpaid work valued at ₹19 lakh crore.
- Cultural Barriers: Patriarchal norms restrict autonomy and 59% of women don’t take independent financial decisions.
- Gender Pay Gap: Women earn 30–40% less than men in urban areas.
- Education-Employment Disconnect: Women constitute 40% of STEM graduates, but only 27% of STEM workforce (ORF).
- Health Inequalities: Maternal health improving, yet gaps remain in nutrition, childcare, and reproductive healthcare access.
- Data Gaps: Less than 20% of SDG gender indicators re-collected and only 42% of required gender data globally available as per WEF, 2024.
Role of Robust Gender Data in Inclusive Growth:
Targeted Policymaking:
- Uttar Pradesh’s WEE Index tracks women’s participation across 5 levers (employment, education, entrepreneurship, mobility, safety).
- It revealed that more than 50% women in skilling enrolment but very few in entrepreneurship due to credit barriers which enables specific policies.
True Gender Budgeting:
- Enables shift beyond welfare to apply a gender lens across sectors such as education, energy, transport, and infrastructure.
SDG Alignment:
- Gender equality (SDG 5) intersects with 10 other SDGs. For example, closing women’s health gaps could add$1 trillion annually to global GDP by 2040 as per McKinsey.
Smart Economics:
- As per McKinsey estimates, closing India’s gender employment gap could add $770 billion to GDP by 2025.
Optimised Resource Allocation:
- Gender-disaggregated data enables better targeting of welfare schemes, subsidies, and credit access.
- For example, identifying districts with high female dropout rates or low credit access can help channel education scholarships, MUDRA loans, or skilling programmes more effectively.
Accountability & Governance:
- Transparent gender data creates a benchmark for monitoring progress on gender budgeting and SDGs.
- It empowers civil society and media to hold policymakers accountable, ensuring reforms are not tokenistic but measurable and outcome-driven.
Conclusion:
Without robust gender-disaggregated data, policies risk being blind and fragmented. Leveraging frameworks like the UP WEE Index, combined with true gender budgeting, can unlock the gender dividend, making India’s growth not only faster but also more equitable and sustainable.
‘+1’ Value Addition:
- Uttar Pradesh – WEE Index (2023): First state-level tool tracking women’s economic empowerment across 5 dimensions such as employment, education, entrepreneurship, mobility, safety.
- Kerala Kudumbashree Mission: Women-led SHGs across 300,000 neighbourhood groups enhanced female entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, and poverty reduction.
- Rajasthan MGNREGA Model: Women make up 57% of workforce (2022–23), benefiting from equal wages, boosting rural autonomy.
- SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association, Gujarat): Provided livelihood security, microfinance, and collective bargaining for women in the informal sector.
- Kenya & Bangladesh (UN Study): Better gender data targeting disadvantaged women generated revenue opportunities of $352 million (Kenya) and $1 billion (Bangladesh) annually.
- Nordic Countries: Integration of gender budgeting in all ministries credited for high FLFPR and ranking in top 5 of WEF Gender Gap Index.
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